Here's[0] how you set up a Ltd company in the UK. The hardest part is thinking up the name.
[0] https://www.gov.uk/limited-company-formation/register-your-c...
How I would start my next startup in Germany without a GmbH (2020)
21–30 of 238 posts
Re: How I would start my next startup in Germany without a GmbH (2020)
#22Oh God, this thread will be the usual Germany bashing. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with how Germany handles corporations. The German corporate law is actually pretty good. If I could change two things, I would make IHK membership optional and allow free filings of the financial reports. These are changes that a willing government could implement in a heartbeat.
And I think no country should handle corporations like the US does. The US is a tax haven and the corporate system doesn't benefit anyone but the owners.
Re: How I would start my next startup in Germany without a GmbH (2020)
#23I think this is one of the reasons why Germany doesn't have a startup ecosystem. People who are loosely playing with the idea of running their own tiny company (e.g. as a student side gig, not with the "I'm planning this like a businessperson and here's my plan how to turn it into a unicorn and how to exit" approach) take a look at the system and bureaucracy, and simply give up and forever write off the concept of ru…
> one of the reasons why Germany doesn't have a startup ecosystem.
But they do.
In fact every hiring post here has plenty of German companies
(not defending bureaucracy here - but it is good to know the rules and tricks before doing this kind of stuff - in fact I'd even argue you might just establish your company somewhere else in the EU, or even somewhere close)
Also - even in the US there are foot-guns that you can get into if you don't know what you're doing
Re: How I would start my next startup in Germany without a GmbH (2020)
#24i get ptsd reading about this and would rather die than having a gmbh again even though i had a holding ug from the start. what also no one tells you is that to get rid of these companies if it does not work out takes one to 2 years and costs a few thousand euros and many nerves you likely don't have anymore at that point. if i start again i am moving to estonia and start a OÜ.
Re: How I would start my next startup in Germany without a GmbH (2020)
#25> “In order to start a GmbH in Germany you will need to buy-in. While you can most likely lend the money, it’s a risk you need to keep in mind. If you’re a solo-entrepreneur, that’s a whooping 25.000€ for you.” That sounds pretty uncompetitive when compared to other EU countries such as Spain and the Netherlands, where it's 3000€ and 0.01€ respectively. In Ireland it's also 25.000€, but corporate taxes are much, much…
Also you „only“ need 12500€ to start. Though you’re still liable for the full 25000€ if things go sideways.
Re: How I would start my next startup in Germany without a GmbH (2020)
#26Thanks for the post. Reading this made me quite angry - politicians here in Germany always talk out of their asses about improving the situation for startups, but when it comes to removing these ridiculous administrative hurdles, absolutely nothing happens. In Austria, where I live, it's even worse. It's not even possible to start a limited liability company without at least 35k starting capital in the bank.
The loophole I've successfully used in the past in Austria was to incorporate a Ltd in the UK and operate it in Austria (similarly to how, in the U.S. The free movement provision, which is one of the central pilhars of the E.U., extends to free movement of legal persons, and does not end with free movement of natural persons. The UK is no longer in the EU, but you could go with the Republic of Ireland or Malta.
Re: How I would start my next startup in Germany without a GmbH (2020)
#27Oh God, this thread will be the usual Germany bashing. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with how Germany handles corporations. The German corporate law is actually pretty good. If I could change two things, I would make IHK membership optional and allow free filings of the financial reports. These are changes that a willing government could implement in a heartbeat. And I think no country should handle corporatio…
I've started a UG in Germany. It is one of the worst professional experiences I've ever had.
It's extremely cumbersome, bureaucracy heavy, slow and expensive. In addition I've never encountered as many scummy companies (GmbH or otherwise) as in Germany. Corporate rules and culture are both complete trash.
For reference I've started companies in Sweden, and I can do the full process online in an afternoon. Probably less than 30 minutes.
If I ever had to have a business for operating in Germany again, I would create an Estonian business. There's no reason that you corporate entity has to be German itself.
Re: How I would start my next startup in Germany without a GmbH (2020)
#28I think this is one of the reasons why Germany doesn't have a startup ecosystem. People who are loosely playing with the idea of running their own tiny company (e.g. as a student side gig, not with the "I'm planning this like a businessperson and here's my plan how to turn it into a unicorn and how to exit" approach) take a look at the system and bureaucracy, and simply give up and forever write off the concept of ru…
It is stupidly easy to create a GmbH or UG, especially the UG. Also very cheap, if you push it two days are enough, will cost you around 100 bucks.
And if you just want to run a side business, one that doesn't have the potential to ruin you, just run it as an independent income.
You can even have your employees participate in your GmbH, either in enquity or profit. That most German start-ups don't simply means they want to keep salaries down by paying in potentially worthless enquity.
Re: How I would start my next startup in Germany without a GmbH (2020)
#29> Kebab costs 2€
This is a very very outdated price, and as far as I remember it was only possible due to some very doggy things going on.
Even a few years back the price was around 3.5€ (in cheaper areas of Germany).
Before COVID the price was more around 4-4.5€.
Now it's 6€.
(Prices based on cheaper areas of Germany).
Re: How I would start my next startup in Germany without a GmbH (2020)
#30I think this is one of the reasons why Germany doesn't have a startup ecosystem. People who are loosely playing with the idea of running their own tiny company (e.g. as a student side gig, not with the "I'm planning this like a businessperson and here's my plan how to turn it into a unicorn and how to exit" approach) take a look at the system and bureaucracy, and simply give up and forever write off the concept of ru…
It is stupidly easy to create a GmbH or UG, especially the UG. Also very cheap, if you push it two days are enough, will cost you around 100 bucks. And if you just want to run a side business, one that doesn't have the potential to ruin you, just run it as an independent income. You can even have your employees participate in your GmbH, either in enquity or profit. That most German start-ups don't simply means they w…
>It is stupidly easy to create a GmbH or UG, especially the UG. Also very cheap, if you push it two days are enough, will cost you around 100 bucks.
What about the required 25k to start a GmbH?